WannaCry Ransomware has hit thousands of businesses, government institutions, and private citizens worldwide.

It’s been all over the news.

And as you have probably heard, it’s only getting worse.

WannaCry version #1 was destructive for those affected by the ransomware causing downtime, disruption, lost revenue, and in the case of the National Health Service hospitals in the UK – putting lives at risk.

But WannaCry version #1 had a fault.

A 22-year-old, anonymous security analyst known as MalwareTech discovered that there was a “kill switch” buried in the code of this vicious ransomware. This “kill switch” consisted of an unregistered web address. When the virus first contacted a victim’s computer, it would reach out to this web address buried in the code. If it received a reply from the address, the WannaCry ransomware would shut down entirely.

But here’s the problem…

Version #2 of WannaCry – WannaCry 2.0 – is coming out and promises to be worse than the first.

The analyst who discovered the original “kill switch” has stated, “Version 1 of WannaCrypt (also known as WannaCry) was stoppable, but version 2.0 will likely remove the flaw. You’re only safe if you patch ASAP.”

Can’t patch your computers?

If it is impossible to patch your computers, following Microsoft’s instructions on disabling Server Message Block version 1 (SMBv1), will do the trick.

Not sure if your business computers are patched with the latest Microsoft updates?